by Dann Stupp , USA TODAY Sports

by Dann Stupp , USA TODAY Sports

Once he overcame his Achilles' heel and stopped his opponent's takedowns, Carlos Condit found his openings and battered and bloodied fellow welterweight contender Martin Kampmann.

After some opening-round frustration with Kampmann's frequent trips to the mat, the former interim champion stopped the takedowns, took control of the bout, and scored a vicious fourth-round TKO stoppage.

Condit (29-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who recently lost a title-unification bout with champ Georges St-Pierre and then a fight with No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks, was in a must-win situation as he looked to avoid a third consecutive defeat. Not only did he score a victory over a fellow contender, he avenged a controversial split-decision loss to Kampmann (20-7, 11-6) in 2009. It was Condit's only defeat during a 14-span from 2006 to 2012.

"I'm excited, really happy," Condit said after the fight, which ended via TKO at the 0:54 mark of the fourth round. "Martin's a really well-rounded fighter and can take the fight wherever he wants. We saw he was going to come out and try to take me down and make it a grappling match. We tried to avoid that, and I was able to pick him apart with strikes."

Kampmann's takedown-oriented game plan paid dividends in the opening round. He scored no fewer than four takedowns and slowed Condit's always-accurate attacks of punches and kicks. However, after stuffing a few attempts in the following round and keeping his distance, Condit landed with quick hooks, head kicks and knees up the middle.

By the third round, Kampmann's face was badly bloodied, which made it all the more difficult for the Danish fighter to see Condit's swarm of strikes and leaping knees.

Early in the fourth round, a body shot then stunned Kampmann, and Condit quickly swarmed with followup punches. Kampmann absorbed a few additional blows before falling to the mat, and referee Herb Dean waved off the fight.

With the victory, Condit said his sights remain on a potential bout with either No. 1 St-Pierre or No. 2 Hendricks, whose title fight headlines UFC 167 on Nov. 18.

In the night's co-headliner, Brazilian lightweight Rafael dos Anjos (20-6, 9-4) took a big stride into title contention with a unanimous-decision victory Donald Cerrone (20-6, 7-3 UFC). Dos Anjos, who dropped Cerrone early with a right hand, has now won five consecutive bouts over increasingly tougher competition. He should get another step up in competition in his next appearance.